THE WALL OF FACES

On April 1, 1970, Second Platoon, D Troop, 17th Cavalry, 199th Light Infantry Brigade, was providing security escort for a convoy of ammunition trucks on Route 335 when it was ambushed south of Xo Xu in Binh Thuy Province, RVN, by elements of the 33rd North Vietnamese Army Regiment. For this escort duty, Second Platoon consisted of only four vehicles, two ACAV's (heavily armed M113A1 armored personal carriers) and two M551 Sheridan tanks. The ambush began at approximately 8:30 AM when the convoy was attacked with rocket-propelled grenades (RPG’s) and machine gun fire. The initial assault concentrated on the track commanders (TC’s), which was successfully achieved. With the TC's out of commission, communications with outside support was cut off. Meanwhile, First Platoon, D/17th, was providing support at a forward firebase that day. At about 9:30 AM, they began receiving radio calls from an unknown source. The person was literally crying over the radio, pleading for help. Once First Platoon authenticated who was calling, determining it was their sister platoon in trouble, they immediately sent a reaction force of three Sheridans and five ACAV's to their assistance. As the ambush site was just coming into view of the rescue force, they were hit with a much larger ambush from the right side of the road. One of their Sheridan tanks, Track 15, was hit first with three RPG's, followed by a second Sheridan, Track 17. Both vehicles were immediately destroyed with the loss of lives. Several more vehicles were hit with RPG's, resulting in more dead and many wounded. As the battle raged, a lieutenant from First Platoon called in and carefully coordinated airstrikes and artillery which was successful in turning the tide of the battle. The commander of D Troop, a captain, arrived overhead by helicopter, and helped direct fire support before landing. At roughly 2:00 PM, during a lull in the fighting, BGEN William R. Bond, the commander of the 199th Light Infantry Brigade, arrived on scene and set his Command and Control (C&C) UH-1 helicopter down in the middle of the road. By this time, First Platoon had consolidated with the Second Platoon, and were getting resupplied with ammo and weapons. BGEN Bond conveyed that he wanted a live prisoner for the intel they might provide, so he and the captain decided to conduct a sweep of the contact site. The captain grabbed two other troopers, and along with Bond, they got behind an ACAV and started the sweep. The captain and Bond were walking behind the left side of the track and the other two troopers were behind the right side, approximately six feet apart. Above, an AH-1G Cobra helicopter gunship hovered out to the left front, watching over the group conducting the sweep. Not long into the mission, a NVA hiding behind a large mound of dirt fired an RPG round into the front of the APC. When the rocket hit, the captain and Bond rolled out to the left with M16s blazing, the troopers on the right doing the same. Almost simultaneously, the overhead Cobra engaged the enemy combatant from its hovering position. It fired two rockets into the NVA, who was very close to the front of the APC. The rockets came from the left side of the ACAV, the same side which Bond and the captain were firing their rifles. Immediately after the Cobra unleashed its rockets, the captain yelled for a stretcher. Bond had suffered a fragmentation wound in the upper right chest area close to his neck, critically injuring him. A jagged gash was visible where he had been hit. The general’s pilot was immediately notified, and the search party carried Bond to his C&C aircraft. While being loaded into the helicopter, he was overheard to say, “Tell my wife I love her.” Bond died while in flight to the evacuation hospital in Long Binh. Four other Americans were killed in the ambush, including CPL Daniel L. Flynn, SFC Jay W. King, PFC Eldon W. Moore, and SSGT Billy J. Schaffer. Two more would die of wounds after being evacuated, SP4 Everett L. Ankrom and SP4 Edward E. Howard. More than 20 other troopers were wounded. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and information provided by James Barnett (June 2017)]

DEAR SPECIALIST 4TH CLASS ANKROM.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE AS AN ARMOR RECONNAISSANCE SPECIALIST. REST IN PEACE.

Dear SP4 Everett Lee Ankrom, sir

As an American, I would like to thank you for your service and for your sacrifice made on behalf of our wonderful country. The youth of today could gain much by learning of heroes such as yourself, men and women whose courage and heart can never be questioned.

May God allow you to read this, and may He allow me to someday shake your hand when I get to Heaven to personally thank you. May he also allow my father to find you and shake your hand now to say thank you; for America, and for those who love you.

With respect, and the best salute a civilian can muster for you, Sir

Curt Carter

Everett is buried at Pennsboro Masonic Cemetery, Pennsboro, WV. BSM-OLC PH

FOREVER REMEMBERED

"If you are able, save for them a place inside of you....and save one backward glance when you are leaving for the places they can no longer go.....Be not ashamed to say you loved them....
Take what they have left and what they have taught you with their dying and keep it with your own....And in that time when men decide and feel safe to call the war insane, take one moment to embrace those gentle heroes you left behind...."

Quote from a letter home by Maj. Michael Davis O'Donnell
KIA 24 March 1970. Distinguished Flying Cross: Shot down and Killed while attempting to rescue 8 fellow soldiers surrounded by attacking enemy forces.

We Nam Brothers pause to give a backward glance, and post this remembrance to you, one of the gentle heroes lost to the War in Vietnam:

Slip off that pack. Set it down by the crooked trail. Drop your steel pot alongside. Shed those magazine-ladened bandoliers away from your sweat-soaked shirt. Lay that silent weapon down and step out of the heat. Feel the soothing cool breeze right down to your soul ... and rest forever in the shade of our love, brother.

From your Nam-Band-Of-Brothers